Octagon Global Recruiting is a volunteer recruiting organization apparently run by the Dharma Initiative, as part of the alternate reality game, Dharma Initiative Recruiting Project. A television advertisement for the Octagon Global Recruiting website, octagonglobalrecruiting.com, was

The television advertisement and site stated that Octagon Global Recruiting would hold a recruiting session in San Diego from July 24-27, 2008, and fan speculation relating to Comic-Con being at the same time and location was later confirmed in a series of emails, with the group supposedly running aptitude tests as part of their recruitment drive.

Contents

Press release

“

Industry: Charity

On behalf of the Dharma Initiative, Octagon Global Recruiting is currently seeking volunteers to contribute to an important new research project.

San Diego, CA (PRunderground) May 29, 2008 – The Dharma Initiative is a multidisciplinary research collective dedicated to improving the human condition through innovative scientific research. Our directors are recognized leaders in their fields, with distinguished research histories in a wide range of social and scientific disciplines.

A new research project is about to commence which will play a vital role in the furthering Dharma Initiative’s objectives.

Octagon Global Recruiting, on behalf of the Dharma Initiative, requires research volunteers to assist in a range of unpaid positions.

Our national recruitment drive will commence in San Diego, California, July 24 – 27, 2008.

Newsletters

A series of email newsletters were sent out by Hans Van Eeghen, Head of Recruiting for the Dharma Initiative. He advertised the recruitment drive at Comic-Con. The site source code also included an ominous message from a hacker known as RuckusGuy:

“

…If you’re reading this, wanna hear something cool?
I’ve got intel about his little “recruitment drive.”
They’re doing some kind’ve personality/IQ testing or something down in SD for ComicCon.
Buddy of mine works down there and has the approvals for their “booth,” he says once you go in no one knows what happens inside and you need an appointment to get in. He also said to make sure you’ve got your Bluetooth on and visible – he’s rigged up a little something.

The whole thing sounds like elitist B.S., doesn’t it?
Well, I’m getting in that booth and taking the test.
As many times as I have to before I “pass” (whatever that means?)
And then…
If I can?
I’m gonna tape it so EVERYONE can see what these idiots are up to.
Should be fun, right?
See ya in SD. RuckusGuy OUT.

”

Comic-Con

At the Octagon Global Recruiting booth, fans were given a waiver form and an appointment time by DHARMA staff (all with Australian accents). At their appropriate time, they entered the booth, which had cameras on the ceiling (these fed outside the booth so observers could see what was going on). With a set of headphones and television equipment, participants were shown images and given a series of questions, and had to say what first pops into their heads. Some of the images in particular were reportedly very bizarre. Questions were then asked such as "You just took away a child's favorite toy. Why?" Reportedly, fans had the option of what type of test they can take by choosing a different name. There were eight options, all names of Jupiter moons. One question example was, "Who is your constant?" which is an allusion to the episode "The Constant". [2]

The test apparently lasted about five minutes, and upon completion candidates were told whether they passed or not (it's likely everyone "passed" as part of the ARG). Participants were then told to make sure they see the Lost panel on Saturday, and have their test sheet with them (they apparently made a point of having your own sheet with you). They were also given an ID card, which includes special details which can, from July 28th, be entered on DharmaWantsYou.com to allow those who took the test to register for "Phase 2" of the application process.

At the Lost panel, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse announced that DHARMA was sponsoring Lost. Hans Van Eeghen announced the results of the tests: nearly everyone had failed dismally except for a select few. These select few were going back to the DHARMA booth to be shown something "special". A little while later, a young guy called Dan Bronson with a video camera interrupted Damon and Carlton's presentation because he had gotten the secret video on tape and he thought that the fans deserved some answers. Despite security trying to take him away and Damon and Carlton's objections, Dan Bronson showed the video to Comic-Con.

The Bluetooth Video

The video hack RuckusGuy promised was released at Comic-Con, but visitors had some difficulty retrieving the file. To rectify this, a high quality version was later uploaded onto YouTube by "User:RuckusGuy".

The DHARMA video

DharmaWantsYou.com

After the events of Comic-Con, the DharmaWantsYou.com site officially launched, giving all fans a chance to join the Dharma Initiative. The site issued an eligibility test, followed by a string of aptitude tests spread out over a period of weeks.

Trivia

When read from the bottom upwards the first letters of the positions spell DHARMA INITIATIVE.

"Engineers" is listed twice, residing in the 8th and 15th position from the top of the list. If you count to the end and then continue down again from the top (counting the first spot twice), Engineers also rests in the 42nd place. the word Engineers is also included as part of the 32nd consecutive slot, under "Aeronautical Engineers".